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About Me:

Monkey Mama

Just a 47-year-old mom of 2 in Northern California. My kids are Monkey Monkey(MM) and Drama Llama (DL). I am married to Monkey Hubby (MH).

We were a one-income family for 13 years. In late 2015 my spouse returned to work (minimum wage/part-time/seasonal). Something recent on his resume just buys us more options for the long run. The main benefit of this job is that he just works while the kids are in school. As always, we are saving 100% of his income.

We saved a lot while we were very young and also moved to a lower cost-of-living area, to make life much simpler. We still live in California though (in one of the most expensive regions of the U.S.). *Simple* and *inexpensive* is relative.

Likewise, we have never had debt aside from our mortgage.** My blog is a testament to how much simpler life is without debt; how we have that much more money to both save and enjoy!

**Caveat: I have no problem whatsoever with credit cards paid off monthly, or low-risk credit arbitrage (for example, 0%-interest debt while earning 5% on FDIC-insured cash). These are the kinds of debt we have had. Just not interested in high-interest debt, using debt to buy beyond means, and not interested in the hassle that comes with loans and payments. With age and means, the latter (hassle) is our biggest debt avoidance motivation.

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2024 Goals

[ ]Small monthly Charitable Contribution
...($156 @ 6/30/24)
...Trying to be more mindful about how the little amounts add up and are helpful.
...This is not an all inclusive list of charitable giving but it is a new habit I want to add in addition to other donations of time, goods and money

[ ]Pay cash for college
...This is so much a given, to me. But I realize not everyone can read my mind, and so will memorialize in my goal list.
...#1 We don't do Debt
...#2 The student loan system is a scammy and corrupt mess.
...Seriously, wouldn't touch these student loan servicers with a ten foot pole.
MM YEAR 1 ✔
MM YEAR 2 ✔
MM YEAR 3 ✔
MM YEAR 4
MM YEAR 5

DL YEAR 1 ✔
DL YEAR 2
DL YEAR 3

[ ]$10,000 to savings
...($7,121 @ 8/31/24)
...$1,000/month, plus interest
...Topping off with snowballs

[ ]$7,500 to investments
...($3,691 @ 8/31/24)
...~~$350~~ $400/month, plus snowflakes
(Snowflakes: credit card rewards and dividends)
...Topping off with snowballs
...Note: Bumped up to $400 9/1, re: reduced food expenses

[ ]$2,025 to mortgage
...($0 @ 8/31/24)
...Topping off with snowballs and/or excess cash
...Keeps us on track with $10K principal paydown per year

[/]9% of household income to work retirement plans
...(9% @ 8/31/24)
...This is the minimum for the match; I'd otherwise rather fund IRAs.
...Note: Total retirement savings rate is 20% (with IRAs)

Goal savings rate = 25% of gross salary, plus funding IRAs from other sources.

[ ]$14,000 to IRAs 2024 (MAX)
...($0 @ 8/31/24)
...Will fund with MH's income
...Will not fund until the year is over. This is for tax and planning reasons. I won't know what mix of Traditional/ROTH IRA we literally can contribute until we do our 2024 taxes. In addition to that, can make a more informed decision based on our financial and tax situation for the entire year.

-------------------------------

**Long-Term Goals**

[X]$500,000 in retirement accounts by age 45.

Current big picture goal:

[ ]$1 Mil in retirement accounts by age 52.

Stretch Goal: Achieve by age 50

Have decided to pretty much stay the course. Keep saving 20%+ to retirement. This means taking 401K match & maxing out IRAs.

NOTE: WE HAVE NEVER CONTRIBUTED LESS THAN 10% TO RETIREMENT. NO EXCEPTIONS.

If we can't achieve at least 10%, then something else has to give. I share because it's infinitely easier to save for retirement if you start early. Let the investments do the hard work for you.

-------------------------------

Debt: $85,000 mortgage
{Home Purchase Price $290,000}

Ongoing goal is to *never borrow money again.*

Took on a $230k mortgage in 2001 and have not added to that.

-------------------------

Net Worth: Increase net worth by $600,000 in the next 10 years. This is my "financial independence" goal.

2017: +$ 70,000 (partial year)
2018: +$ 51,000
2019: +$105,000
2020: +$104,000
2021: +$215,000
2022: <$ 65,000>
2023: +$ 90,000
TOTAL: +$570,000

This is in line with prior goal, saving 100% of our expenses every year.

{Our expenses are far more consistent than our income. Also, helps to prevent "living up to income."}

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My Pages

No GPS - But a Webcam Instead...

November 30th, 2008 at 01:07 am

I remembered the one feature I wanted on a GPS as dh went out the door today to pick one up. I wanted one that would show coordinates for hiking/geo caching and such. I reminded him as much.

When dh got to Fry's he was able to try out the display model. I don't think he had a lot of issues with it, but side by side to the Garmin, it just wasn't near as nice. He also said it was the only one there that didn't have coordinates. (& the Garmin will give you directions to coordinates. Cool!)

So he decided not to pick it up after all. He wants to wait another year for prices to drop and technology to improve. (That's how we usually buy things. We have tons of electronics, but we wait a lot longer than most people and tend to keep things forever). So it looks like we will wait a bit.

No complaints here!

For now we just borrow his mom's anyway. We have it right now.

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In other news, his aunt is moving back to Asia soon (she lived there for decades - and though she has been lucky to be in the States for a couple of years - she is heading back out in 2009. Missionary stuff).

Dh's mom decided the perfect Christmas gift was webcams for everyone, and we should get set up on skype. We've talked about it before, like when the kids were born, but I guess dh's uncle was showing his setup off at Thanksgiving and they have been thinking of better ways to keep in touch across the globe.

So dh picked up a webcam today and has been playing with it all afternoon. IT's actually pretty cool.

It was funny to see Analise's post about skype just as I came online to post this. I have only used it once, today, but I can vouch for it. It's pretty sweet!

Anyway, no GPS as planned. But we have other nifty technology to play with.

I keep thinking back to the video phone concept of years past, and how completely cool this is in comparison.

Posted in Just Thinking | 7 Comments »

7 Responses to “No GPS - But a Webcam Instead...”

Analise Says:
November 30th, 2008 at 01:36 am 1228009009
1228009009

You can bet if I had grand kids, I would get my DDs a webcam to use w/ Skype. It's great fun to see the person you are talking to.

Your boys will learn some basic Spanish, but you're right about the immersion programs. This is where in-depth learning takes hold because students are forced to use it for daily communication in a variety of contexts.

In recent weeks I've been observing student teachers in a model two-way immersion program and I just love to hear second and third graders (who speak English-only at home) communicate fluently in Spanish. Kids have such a great capacity for learning languages. Once you learn a second language, it is easier to pick up another.
scfr Says:
November 30th, 2008 at 04:28 am 1228019318
1228019318

Yea - Skype is great. DH uses it to call customers and family overseas. I forsee "free Autie scfr tutoring via Skype" in my future when my overseas niece & nephew get a bit further along in their studies.

We finally bought a GPS, after looking for one for well over a year. It will really come in handy on our househunting trip to San Diego. I also ordered a digital camera today ... hoping it will arrive before we leave for our trip. For a semi-Luddite I sure have been acquiring electronic gadgets lately!
frugaltexan75 Says:
November 30th, 2008 at 05:55 am 1228024539
1228024539

I have Skype installed on my mini-laptop I got recently. It doesn't have a camera, so for Christmas my grandma has already said she's going to get me a webcam. That way when I call my dad/grandma we can both see each other.
What kind of webcam did you get?
swimgirl Says:
November 30th, 2008 at 06:22 am 1228026177
1228026177

Love skype!
monkeymama Says:
November 30th, 2008 at 02:41 pm 1228056067
1228056067

FT75 - I am not sure. I was going to grab the box but dh packed it away or something. I will ask him when he wakes up.

Got some deal on Fry's on a pretty "high quality" one. But his uncle has some "high def" camera which we decided to get after all. I guess it only works (high def) if both users have similar cameras, and that's the one his uncle had and his mom wanted to get. But dh pointed out that everyone but us (since we just bought a new computer) would need to upgrade their computer to be able to use it. Which is kind of silly. BUT my parents are going to get one and so we decided to. It was only $50 on sale, whereas the one dh bought was $40 anyway. We may pay the $10 difference, since it will be a gift.

It's the Logitech 9000 - dh ordered it on amazon so won't get it for a few days.
monkeymama Says:
November 30th, 2008 at 05:29 pm 1228066164
1228066164

Okay - Microsoft Lifecam VX-5000

But the Logitech 9000 (if you have a dual core - or quad core- processor) is $50 after rebate, at amazon, through tomorrow.

The microsoft one runs $40 on sale. Since I am not a video snob, it is good enough for me. Hehe.
frugaltexan75 Says:
November 30th, 2008 at 07:01 pm 1228071691
1228071691

Thanks! I'll have to take a look at the Microsoft one.

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No GPS - But a Webcam Instead...

7 Responses to “No GPS - But a Webcam Instead...”

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